In fishing a fly or lure is used frequently for bait and the fly or lure is chosen, for example, in accordance with the type of fish, the environmental or natural conditions or the environmental or natural conditions of the location. Accordingly, many flies or lures must be prepared or be available for effective fishing and be used properly for a plentiful fishing result.
Generally, many flies or lures have been held in a foamed plastic mat provided with many slits so that they can easily be removed from the mat at any fishing location or under any fishing conditions. The mat can be made in any suitable size such that it is reliably disposed in a fly or lure box and can be easily removed to provide access to the fly or lure or provide access to the fly or lure without removing the mat from the fly or lure tackle box.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a known fly holding mat. In FIG. 7 the fly holding mat body M is made of a foamed polyethylene or other foam plastic resin material. The mat is provided with many slits S which are, respectively, deeply cut into the mat to a desired depth and length. The respective cuts leave a bottom of the mat so that the fly or lure can be systematically held after insertion into the slit, but also easily removed from the slit at any time without any injury to the fly or lure.
There are many other known fly or lure holding mats. For example, a foamed plastic mat in which the fly or lure is held on a wave-shaped surface, etc., have also been distributed in the fishing tackle market.
These known holding mats, which can functionally receive and retain a fly or lure, have attained their purposes in structure and function. However, even though the foam polyethylene mat is provided with many slits has generally been used to functionally hold the flies, it is believed to be inadequate in practical use and is inconvenient, as described hereafter.
Firstly, it is difficult for the user to see the slit S formed into the foamed polyethylene mat because of the lateral elasticity of the foam acting in the direction of arrows f and f', as shown in FIG. 7. The forces f and f' tend to move the walls forming the slit closer together thereby making it difficult to find the slit, when the fly A is to be inserted into the slit to be held elastically. In order to properly insert the fly or lure it is necessary to identify and locate the slit in the upper surface or the vertical edge of the slit in the foam body. One way of identifying or location the slits is to press the mat downwardly or laterally at a location, for example, generally at D, adjacent to the slit with the finger on one hand while holding the fly or lure in the same hand or the other hand. This insertion of the fly is not only very difficult but also very troublesome, even for a skilled person in the art of fishing.
Secondly, the place for changing the fly during fishing may have poor footing or be in the water as well have poor natural light and be in the shade thereby making it difficult to effect speedy change or insertion of the fly in the known mat.
Thirdly, the slit in the known foamed mat has a portion D which is not cut through completely to a bottom of the mat and does not hold the fly. If the depth of the cut forming the slit is shallow or if the elastic pressure of the walls forming the slit is weak, the fly may be insufficiently held in the mat even if the fly is fully inserted into the bottom of the slit.
Lastly, it may be necessary to use a bulky or larger foamed mat to completely hold the fly and this will inevitably require a larger tackle box for such a mat. A larger tackle box may, accordingly, be impractical or inconvenient.